says, “In order to have a livable city, you’ve got to think about the environment.”

Bing says that he plans to make an announcement in the next 30 to 60 days about a sizeable urban farm initiative in Detroit. He hopes to tear down vacant houses, clean up the property and turn it into safe agricultural land to stimulate economic activity and provide food that can be sold right in Detroit.

“We’re blessed … with a massive amount of land that’s being totally underutilized,” he says.

“If we could start looking at more and more neighborhood and community farmers growing their products in the city of Detroit, delivering them over to Eastern Market,” says Bing, “I think it’s going to be an economic boon because we’re not going to have to incur the high transportation costs from different places outside of Detroit.”

Bing hopes that urban farming may provide opportunities for entrepreneurship. But the

“Our river walk is a much-underutilized gem here in the city of Detroit,” says Bing.

He is also in talks to get money invested in Detroit for car battery development.

“I’m hopeful that some point in time, we can see that as part of the industry redevelopment here in Detroit,” says Bing.

“Some of the jobs that we’ve lost are never going to come back,” says Bing. “So we’ve got to think about a different kind of manufacturing job, and that’s about re-training and educating our population.”